be a better programmer

I have skills and I sometimes underestimate my knowledge and feel intimidated because I am not a natural “geek” but I do like coding. I’m getting the hang of C# at the moment.

As a web developer I use mainly open source tools such as PHP. I thought I’d finally sample Microsoft visual stuff and you know, it’s pretty good. Makes it really easy. I have no plans of being a .NET developer or anything though. because I love the open source community. Just checking things out.

I found a great Linux Format magazine special edition called Code It! It takes you step by step through 25 programming projects to help build basic skills. Just what I needed. It starts you off with Visual C#, which I never considered using prior. I like this mag because it doesn’t stick to one language but emphasizes using the best for each job. Touches on C#, PHP, JavaScript and Ruby. I can code but this ‘get better’ entry will probably never end because I can always get better.

I can program ok in PHP and JavaScript. I just want to be more fluent. I’d like to learn more languages like C/C++, C#, Python, Perl, Java, etc. I’m working on it by reading lots of books and online tutorials.

Forget it, life is to short to keep banging my head on this goal. I am mediocre…next.

so dropping it from my goal list.

One can never be a perfect programmer but get himself better and better. At the same time of doing this, I am trying to help others to be better programmers too.

Hence, this goal:

Revives myJug: http://www.43things.com/things/view/1548280

writing about it and getting it published in a reputable magazine. You’ll force yourself to do proper, extensive research and ensure that every word means what they’re supposed to mean.

I’ve been through this a few times, the latest article being this one

I feel that, IMHO, writing an article about something makes me a better programmer. For example, that article of mine was about JavaScript. But my research brought me to lambda calculus, closures, prototype-based inheritance, and many more.

Started a technical/programming blog recently at

http://rayfd.wordpress.com/

I find writing blog really helps your understanding of things. There’s a big difference between reading about something and writing about something. The latter forces you to have a deep understanding of the issue. The former is just receiving—that’s relatively easy.

All 100% on 3 courses so far. Very excited about everything that I’m learning!